PRES. BARRIE AUDEN A bbotsford SEC. EVALINNE BOND M atsqui M ission TREAS. FLORA KENTON Phone: 836-4655 Mission, B.C. federated anti-poverty groups of b.c. (604) area code P.O.Box #372, ABBOTSFORD, B.C. Y2S 4N9 Tuesday, January 6, 1981 E REPLY - RECEIVED /REÇU Senator Harry Hays and H of C - C cfos C Serge Joyal MP c/o the House of Commons, Ottawa, 14 JAM 1981 Ontario, Canada I Consiitccs anâ Prh^îa M y D e a r Sirs: J Canitéi Lf V.^., On the advice of our Mission-Moody, B.C. MP^Mark Rose and MP,Lorne Mystrom, we hereby request to appear as a^three-man delegation of witnesses before the Senate-Commons Constitutional Committee • Please find enclosed our recent submission to the Prime Minister regarding our proposed amendments to the new Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms that the Hon. Monique Begin recently vowed to present personally to the Rt. Hon. P.E. Trudeau on our behalf. We propose the following amendments to Schedule B of the Constitut­ ion Act 1980, Part 1, Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, under Section 6 - Mobility Rights, on behalf of the 1,500,000-odd Injured Workers of Canada that we are aware of in our Country today. Under Section 6 of Mobility Rights, we would submit .that there be added: 4. Every compensable Canadian Injured Worker has the right (a) to equal Provincial Workers Compensation Benefits, Claims Handling and Retraining from Province to Province by the imposition of mandatory reciprocal claims handling procedures to be followed by all Provincial Workers Compensation Boards as a condition of this Charter Of Rights (b) of appeal to his or her Member of Parliament and an appointed Federal Workers Compensation Appeal Board as further recourse to settle a disputed Provincial workers compensation claim .... page 2 affiliated with the national anti-poverty organization Senate-Gommons Constitution letter - Jan# 6, 1981 oont# page 2 (o) to present and have accepted his or her own out- of“province medioal practitioners workers compensation claim injury reports from one province to that of another provincial workers compensation board, if that compensation board represents the province where the workers original compensable injury occurred (d) to receive without duress or discrimination, compreh­ ensive provincial welfare and Canada Assistance Plan payments from any Provincial Government Welfare Agency or Ministry while he or she is awaiting the final dis­ position of a filed workers compensation claim or app­ eal from any other provincial workers compensation board (subject to subsection (3) (b) of this section) (6 - Mobility Rights - residency requirements ) 5* That the Government of Canada has the right to regul­ arly appoint both a Senate - Commons Committee-At-Large to regularly review the overall claims and appeals decisions of all provincial workers compensation boards on a yearly basis, in order to compare the costs of denied provincial workers compensation claims and appeals to the Canada Assistance Plan and Canada Pens­ ion Plan Disability Awards payments to the provinces and to report these annual findings to the Federal Minister of Labour, the Minister of National Health and Welfare and the House of Commons 6• That a comprehensive Federal Workers Compensation1 Act be enacted by the Canadian Parliament as a further amendment to this new Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms Being that we, the members of the Injured Workers Committee of the B«C. Federated Anti-Poverty Groups are only working-class commoners of Canada and are certainly not possessed of either bona-vide legal or scholastic literary skills, we of course intend to seek the guid­ ance of your Constitutional Committee to more properly reword and shorten our proposed amendments, if this can indeed be done without changing their implied context in any way« We believe that to most common Canadians, the proposed patriation and amending of our new Constitution And Charter Of Rights is at best a distant and rather obscure philosophical aspiration on the part of both our Federal Government and Opposition Parties# We further believe that the aforementioned amendments that we have presented are perhaps a more tangible link to the everyday consc­ iousness of our average Canadian citizens and may offer them some­ thing that they can individually relate to in their daily lives« page 3 Senate-Commons Constitution letter - Jan, 6, 1981 oont* page 3 As we are sending you a copy of our X'eoent brief to tbe Prime Minister- we respectfully request that you receive It as our brief to your Senate-Commons Committee for Constitutional Reform In supp- ort of our proposed amendments- If you most kindly accept our request, please be advised that our B.C. FAPG Injured Workers Committee Is comprised of myself as chairman: Barrie Alden bora - June 23, 1941 Victoria, B.C. occupations-truck driver, steel worker, fishery shoreworker, icemaker, oity parksworker, ranch ..hand, surveyor, logger, newspaper columnist, environmentalist, cable television producer and television news researcher residence - Hatzic, B.C. federal riding of Mission-Moody SIN # - 703 362 574 B.C.WCB # - CC72025060 (claim is unresolved to date) 2nd delegate: R o n Gorman bora - March 4, 1939 Sault Ste. Marie Ontario occupations- heavy truck driver, construction worker, heavy equipment operator residence - Mission, B.C. federal riding of Mission-Moody SIN # - 410 517 759 Ont.WCB ft - 07851076 (claim is unresolved to date) 3rd delegate: Leo Ducharme born - June 29, 1934 Ste. Boniface, Manitoba occupations -Canadian Army 1951-54 Service Record #SH4623, construction worker, truck driver, welder (22 years) residence - Mission, B.C. federal riding of Mission-Moody SIN # - 600 600 647 B.C.WCB # - XC74007654 (claim is resolved, but without retraining) As we certainly do not possess the funds to even attempt to trek to Ottawa to appear before your Committee, please advise us as to how our transportation costs and expenses would be provided for in detail, if we are accepted as witnesses* The B.C. Federated Anti-Poverty Groups have about 4,000 members and member groups in B.C. They are all members of the 16,000 to 20,000 member National Anti-Poverty Groups of Canada and are reasonably apolitical in policy and beliefs. Thank you very much for taking the time to consider our request and even if you do not favour us as Committee witnesses, please consider our amendments in view of the fact that we have recently been advised of a number of Canadian Injured Workers whom have allegedly committed suicide as a result of their workers compensation claims being denied. # # # # # pa ge 4 Senate-Commons C o n stitu tio n le t t e r - Jeru 6, 1981 oont* P&ga 4 We are packed and, r e a d y to travel at your earliest convenience and we respectfully await your reply. Barrie Alden Chairman. B,C, FAPG Injured Workers Committee B,C, FAPG delegate to the National Anti-Poverty Organizations B,C, FAPG Publicity Director phone messages to: Mission 826-4655 area code (604) residence of Ron or Sandy Gorman F,S# - We would of course, be slightly chagrined to learn that the Fane of Psilocybe had been summoned to appear before your Committee and we had been passed over. Thankst again. PR£5 BABBI® K U X m A bbotsford 5gC KVAZUmZ BOND M atsqui M ission TREAS FENTON phone % Mission (604) federated anti-pouerty groups of b,c. 825-4655______________ P,0# Box #872 Abbotsford, B.C. V2S 4N9___________________ PRESS RELEASE Friday, November 29, 1980 . The Injured Workers Committee of the B.C. Federated Anti-Poverty Groups are demanding that the Senate-Commons Committee For Constitutional Reform consider the plight of Canada's Injured Workers who are being forced to exist on monthly welfare hand­ outs from the Provinces by recommending to the Liberal Govern­ ment that a Federal Workers Compensation Aot be included in the new Canadian Constitution and Charter Of Rights, In a 27 page brief to the Prime Minister, the B.C, FAPG members are imploring the Federal Government to enact a Federal Workers Compensation Aot as a higher level of appeal for Canadian Injured Workers who have been denied just workers Compensation benefits by the Provincial WCB Boards and Boards Of Appeal. The B.C, FAPG members charge that many injured Canadian workers are suffering through the throes of alcoholism, bankruptcy and marital breakdown because of the gross ineptitude and deliberate callousness of the Provincial Compensation Boards throughout the process of the handling of their claims and appeals. The B.C. FAPG members have enlisted the aid of Ray Skelly, MP Comox-Powell River and Mark Rose, MP Mission-Moody to ohampion their cause to the Constitutional Committee. They are also hoping to win the favour of Mine. Monique Begin, the Minister Of National Health And Welfare to personally present their case to the House Of Commons on their behalf at a breakfast meeting with the Minister at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver on Saturday morning. (Saturday, Nov. 29, 1980) The B.C. FAPG members are also trying to raise enough funds to send three delegates to Ottawa to give WCB testimony to the Commons Committee On The Handicapped now sitting in Ottawa. ---3 0 ---- -affiliated with the national anti-povertv organization PRES. A bbotsford BARRIE ALLEN M aîsqui SEC. W J & m m BOND M ission TREAS. F LORA XMION Phone:826-4655 federated anti-poverty groups of h,e. Mission, B.C. TW M r 1 a r P.O.Box #372 Abbotsford, B.C. 72S 4N9 Monday, November 10, 1980 _ PLEASÏÏ REPLY - Rt, Hon. P.E. Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada, M.P., Mount Royal, c/o House Of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada My Dear Prime Minister: This letter is sent to strenuously implore you to include that the injured workers of Canada, at large, are provided for in our proposed new Constitution or Charter Of Rights.